Aral
Here the Aksu, Yarkand and Hotan rivers join to form the Tarim, and Aral's oasis spreads along the river at the northern edge of the Tarim Basin.
A place shaped through time
Aral lies at the southern foot of the Tianshan on the northern edge of the Tarim Basin, at the very point where the Aksu, Yarkand and Hotan rivers unite to begin the Tarim River. Meltwater carried by the three rivers sustains a long, narrow oasis on the desert's margin, with fields and shelterbelts following the banks. To the south stretches the Taklamakan, and the meeting of river and sand gives the area its dry, sunny climate. The city is home to Tarim University, founded in 1958 as an agricultural college specialising in farming in arid lands. Everything here grows from the headwaters of the Tarim River.